JIS: Minister of Education, Youth and Information, Senator the Hon. Ruel Reid, is advising members of the Diaspora to utilise the services of the National Educational Trust (NET) when making donations to the education sector.
“Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, in his vision, established this institution to partner directly with the Diaspora and other multilateral donors so you can ensure that there is no red tape in getting your gifts and donations to Jamaica and to the destination schools,” he noted.
He was responding to a concern raised by a delegate at the opening day of the Jamaica 55 Diaspora conference at the Jamaica Conference Centre, downtown Kingston, on Monday (July 24).
The NET is the agency of the Government of Jamaica that mobilises financial and quality resource investments for schools in Jamaica to achieve greater levels of access to education and learning.
Speaking in an interview with JIS News, Managing Director of the NET, Marcia Phillips Dawkins, said persons should send the list of items to the Trust before shipping, so they can be advised of the procedures.
“There are specifications for electronic devices like computers, tablets… so we encourage persons to let us know what they are taking and (so we can) tell them if they are appropriate,” she informed.
Mrs. Phillips Dawkins said that the donor should also identify the school that the items will go to “and they also have to consign the shipment to NET, so that when it comes to Customs, it can be identified.”
“When the items arrive here, Customs advise us and we provide the letter for them to take to the Customs department and the things are cleared hassle free,” she said.
She added that when shipping donations through NET, the donor will only pay 50 per cent of the administrative cost and the environment levy.
“All the other fees are waived,” Mrs. Phillips Dawkins pointed out.
For more information, persons can call NET at 967- 9007 or send an email to [email protected]
NET is one of the exhibitors at the Diaspora Marketplace, which is part of the Diaspora Conference.
The marketplace, which will operate for the duration of the conference, will provide for active business interactions.
CAPTION: Minister of Education, Youth and Information, Senator the Hon. Ruel Reid (2nd left), converses with (from left): Chair, Lifelong Leadership Institute, Toronto Canada, Trevor Massey; Lead, Jamaica Diaspora Foundation Education Task Force, United States, Leo Gilling; and Professor and Vice-Chair Basic Sciences, Division of Microbiology, School of Medicine, Loma Linda University, Dr. Hansel Fletcher. They were at Monday’s (July 24) session of the Jamaica 55 Diaspora Conference at the Jamaica Conference Centre, downtown Kingston.